James Hetfield Inducted into High School Hall of Fame

Metallica's James Hetfield was inducted into his High School Hall of Fame at Downey High.  Hetfield only attended the school for his freshman and sophomore year, but he was recognized on May 27th.  This is part of his speech:

"I’m here to talk about the tough times that I made it through.  My father left when I was 13 and my mother passed away when I was 16. I didn’t get to finish high school here, which was very unfortunate, ’cause I did have a lot of friends here, and I ended up moving to a new school and having to live with my older brother. 

So high school was not the best time for me. But music was a savior — a very big savior in my life — and I was able to climb into other people’s heads and their records and get involved in music and, basically, instead of hanging out at school, I went home and practiced guitar, and that was what I did. 

The other thing I wanna say is that it was a very pivotal time and I did not know until now.  A lot of things happened in our lives and they happened for a reason.

The thing that happened to me I was on a football team as a freshman, I came back the next year to be on the sophomore team, and Coach Cummings was his name, he says, ‘You’re gonna have to get a haircut. Your hair is way too long; it’s past the ear.’ And I look at football players and I say, ‘Well… You have to have big hair to be a good football player.’ But at that point he said, ‘You’ve gotta cut your hair or you’re off the team.’ And at that point it was a very major decision. ‘Do I wanna be a rocker? Or do I wanna be a football player’ ‘Cause my whole life growing up, I wanted to be on the Oakland Raiders; that was it.

And the other dream was I wanted to be the guy on the poster — the Aerosmith poster I had in my room. So at that point I made a decision, so I handed in my gear and I just concentrated on music. So thank you to him for making me choose. He was very distinct, very distinct, and he stood his ground and so did I. So I’m very, very glad that that happened at this school.”

I just wanna say thank you to the Hall Of Fame for inducting this misfit. And to all the people that are here today and all the young kids that I see here that love music and are inspired by it and it drives them in their lives. You get your inspiration from wherever you can and live your dream to the fullest, ’cause it can happen."

I think this induction serves as a resolution to the past of some sort for Hetfield, because he had a troubled childhood.  Even though he's a multimillionaire, I think it's wonderful that he took the time to go to a small event like this.  One more reason to love Metallica. 

"Hetfield's high school picture"

Slayer to Refrain from Recording a New Album

Slayer's guitarist, Jeff Hanneman, contracted necrotizing fasciitis earlier this year.  Necrotizing fasciitis is basically a flesh eating skin disorder.  Scary, huh?  Hanneman is now recovering, but Gary Holt has already been, and will be stepping in as the guitarist for the rest of their current tour.  Tom Araya states that "There's no way we could go into the studio without him".  So, recording will be postponed for now.  But hey, who could blame them?  Although a flesh eating bacteria is strange, I'm sure Slayer will write a killer song about it. 

Tool.

You might be asking why I am making a post about Tool in the first place. I am pretty late on listening to this band. Yes yes, I have heard many of their songs on the radio, but I have not fully listened to what this band is about. I never feel like I know a band until I have heard stuff that isn't played on the radio. For example, I pretty much hated Five Finger Death Punch from what I heard on 96.1, our local rock station. After I had heard their album material however, I was shocked. They were good, and not as mainstream rock as I thought they were. Anyways... I have been listening to Tool's Undertow and I am really enjoying it. They are very atmospheric and just have a cool vibe to their music. Tool isn't a band that plays metal nonstop for 60+ minutes. If you listen to Tool, be prepared to be sent into an adventure. In addition to how Tool sounds, they are incredibly talented musicians from what I have heard. The odd time signatures are interesting to listen to and the vocalist is amazing.

I was very surprised by Tool. I didn't expect them to be as heavy as they are at some times, but I did expect the atmospheric elements of their songs. Tool blends the two together to create an amazing listening experience. If you haven't listened to Tool, even if they are pretty popular, look into them.

Skinless Breaks Up

The death metal band Skinless announced April 20th that they will be discontinuing the band. Skinless was a death metal band (slam death metal) that surfaced in the early 90s. If you like the grooves of Pantera, and pretty much any death metal, you will love Skinless. They are the kind of band you have to bang your head when you listen to them. I recommend the song From Sacrifice to Survival off the album of the same name.

It sure is a shame Skinless had to break up. I was really looking forward to another album by a solid band.

My Music!

Before I start posting reviews about metal, I would like to say that I am also a musician.  I have just started to experiment with recording what I have written, and I have uploaded it to a site called reverbnation.  I have embedded some of my songs here, so you can take a listen.  Tell me what you think in the comments!  Feedback and questions would be great!

My first post!

This blog is supposed to be a medium as to which I can review heavy metal and other heavy music.  Expect to read many different kinds of metal, and maybe some other genres.  Although I might review other types of genres, this will only happen a few times, and I ensure you they will still be interesting.  Well, this should be fun, and I hope that any of my readers enjoy reading about some good metal.  I will try to update it about 2-3 times a week.